ANN Correspondent Kevin
"Hognose" O'Brien was kind enough to research and translate the
full text of the press release published by Swiss officials in
their prohibition against Flash Airlines.... the operator of a
Boeing 737 which went down last week off the coast of Egypt and
into the Red Sea. We present it here for your
edification...
FOCA Prohibited Flash Airlines From Landing
The Federal Office for
Civil Aviation (FOCA) issued a landing prohibition against the
Egyptian aviation firm Flash Airlines in October, 2002. The grounds
for that were, deficient condition of its airplanes. In the
following, the measures taken by FOCA in connection with Flash
Airlines are laid out.
Last Saturday, a machine from the Egyptian aviation business
Flash Airlines crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from
Sharm el Sheikh, and all 148 persons on board lost their
lives. On the same day various media approached FOCA with the
question of whether the office had ever assessed on Flash Airlines
a prohibition on landing in Switzerland. FOCA acknowledged these
facts. After that the international media issued various
contradictory claims about to the grounds for this prohibition.
In the interests of clarity, FOCA has decided to explain its
actions with respect to Flash Airlines and its grounds for these
actions.
First, two preliminary remarks must be made.
1. The background concerns two inspections carried out by FOCA
in the year 2002, which however concerned only the then-current
condition of the machines. From this no conclusions can be drawn
about the overall safety level of the business and the condition of
the accident machine at the start of its flight. The cause of the
crash is still not known.
2. Information about safety inspections on aircraft is
confidential. In the present case we are going to waive this rule
for the one and only time, in order to set straight misconceptions
which have arisen in the public.
Switzerland has participated for many years as a member state in
the inspection program of the European Civil Aviation Organization.
Within the framework of this program, FOCA inspectors carry out
so-called "ramp checks" of foreign aircraft on a spot-check basis.
Every year there are about 160. This isn't a thorough inspection,
but an overall condition check of the aircraft and a double-check
of flight preparations.
Flash Airlines was twice an object of such checks, on April 27th
and on October 11th, 2002. The checks took place on two separate
aircraft. On April 27th, the inspectors found a series of serious
deficiencies.
Among them the documentation for navigation was not present on
board, the reckoning of fuel reserves had not been done in
accordance with international standards, and the signage for the
emergency exits was, in part, in unusable condition. In addition
there were obvious maintenance deficiencies noted in the areas of
the landing gear, the engines and the flight controls.
FOCA required, in a
written report, that Flash Airlines rectify the deficiencies before
the next arrival in Switzerland. When the same deficiencies were
apparent on the second inspection, FOCA made any further landings
in Switzerland dependent on a certification from the Egyptian
authorities, that the airplanes of the firm were in sound
condition. Flash Airlines tried a few days later to obtain landing
authorization. Because there was no sufficient proof that the
deficiencies had been effectively remedied, FOCA refused the
authorization.
FOCA informed Flash Airlines and its and foreign authorities as
follows:
- On October 16th, 2002, Flash Airlines received written
notification, that landing authorization in Switzerland had been
withdrawn.
- On October 22nd, the Egyptian aviation authorities were
informed.
- FOCA made the report on the inspections of the Flash Airlines
airplanes available to the other participating European states in
the special database used for that purpose.
- Furthermore, the head of the European inspection program was
notified of the landing prohibition via E-Mail on October 16.
Bern, January 5, 2003
Federal Office of Civil Aviation Information
Federal Office of Civil Aviation, Maulbeerstrasse 9, CH-3003
Bern
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